Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $2,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 1.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 14,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $151.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $174.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.98 and a 200 day moving average of $146.24.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total value of $8,365,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,451 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,255. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on RJF shares. UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.09.

About Raymond James

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.